


Miscommunications

by PimpedOutGreenEars



Category: Battle Royale (Manga), Battle Royale - All Media Types, Battle Royale - Takami Koushun
Genre: F/M, Heavily manga based but has some novel stuff thrown in as well, I didn't tag underage because where I am it's not but please be aware, I'm sorry Shinji's a womanizer, M/M, No Program AU, Some sexual stuff does happen between consenting 16 year olds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:33:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PimpedOutGreenEars/pseuds/PimpedOutGreenEars
Summary: Shinji can't figure out why a girl won't text him back. Yutaka can't figure out why his parents are acting so strangely around him. But they're both about to figure out how it all fits together. And even if it all comes down to a miscommunication, they might just decide they like it.
Relationships: Mimura Shinji/Seto Yutaka
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. People Are Strange

**Author's Note:**

> I'm moving some BR stuff over from FF.net for ease of content searching, and just realized I never moved this over. Totally thought I did.
> 
> Anyway, this is from 2013. It's 7 chapters but I'm not going to upload all at once because if I haven't posted it all here yet, I might as well take a little bit of time to edit the chapters. But it'll all be out in a week or so probably.
> 
> And as far as the actual fic goes: The kids are about 16 and everyone now has a cellphone.

Yutaka was walking down the school hallway toward his classroom when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and pull his body to the right. He knew without looking that it was his best friend, Shinji Mimura.

"Hey, Midget," Shinji greeted happily.

"Hey, Mim. What's up?" Yutaka asked as he looked up at his taller friend. He could tell that Shinji was in a particularly good mood.

"Oh, not much, just got this grade 'A' babe's number," Shinji then leaned down to whisper into Yutaka's ear. "And she's _definitely_ a slut."

Yutaka laughed, knowing that as far as Shinji was concerned that was a good thing.

"Seriously, I thought she was gonna take off her clothes right there," Shinji told him.

"Where did you meet her?" Yutaka asked.

"At that coffee place near my house. She looked my way and couldn't keep her eyes off me," Shinji said proudly.

"Does she go to our school?" Yutaka asked as they stopped at Shinji's locker so he could put his backpack away.

"Nah, goes to the private one on the other side of town. But damn she's hot. Her boobs could be a little bigger, but she's got an ass you could balance a coke can on," Shinji explained with a smile before the boys continued their walk to their classroom.

"Good for you, Mim," Yutaka congratulated, although he didn't really feel good about it. He didn't really get Shinji's views on women.

"Yeah, I figure I'll text her tonight-" Shinji began, but was interrupted when he heard Yutaka sigh.

"What? I can't text her?" Shinji asked raising a brow.

"No, you just made me remember that I'm grounded," Yutaka explained, his body practically deflating.

"Ah, what for this time, little man?" Shinji asked as they walked into their classroom.

"My parents found out my math grade," Yutaka admitted.

Shinji let out a low whistle.

"I don't even get why they're so mad. I'm only getting a 'D', I'm still passing." Yutaka argued as he sat down at his desk with Shinji sitting on top of it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better I can help you study once you're out of lock-up," Shinji suggested. "When is that, by the way?"

"Friday. I'm only grounded for a week, but Mom said if I don't do well on the next math test then I can consider myself right back to grounded," Yutaka explained.

"Well, like I said, I can help you study," Shinji said.

"I doubt I'll need it. Mom took everything from my cellphone to my game station away. Seriously, I woke up today and there was a math book where my TV used to be," Yutaka said in frustration.

"Sucks to be you, Little Man." Shinji said as he stood up ready to go to his seat.

"Yeah, just have fun with Whatshername while I'm locked up," Yutaka said with a scowl.

"Her name's Yukari; total slut name," Shinji replied with a light smile before he walked over to his desk. Class was about to start.

* * *

The weekend went by quickly, along with the beginning of the week, but the moods of the boys only soured. By Thursday both Shinji and Yutaka were in bad moods.

"I can't believe this chick hasn't texted me back," Shinji complained to his friends at lunch.

Shuya, Hiroki, Yutaka, and Yoshitoki were all sitting at the table listening to Shinji complain about Yukari. Shinji had apparently texted her a few times, but she had yet to respond.

"Wow, Shinji, you're really hung up on this chick," Shuya pointed out with a grin. "You must really want to see her."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "I'm not hung up on her. I just can't believe _I'm_ getting stood up by such a slut. She was throwing herself at me Friday morning."

"Maybe something happened to her phone," Hiroki offered as an explanation, but they all knew that was unlikely.

"Yeah, maybe," Shinji said, although it was obvious that he doubted that. "So what's up on the grounded front, Yutaka?"

"Man, I don't even know. I've been studying and everything, but my parents are treating me so weird. Like, my dad hasn't looked me in the eye since Monday, and I swear my mom is looking at me like she's going to burst into tears at any second. I don't know what I did. They can't really be this upset over math, right?" Yutaka asked the boys at the table.

"It doesn't sound like it's about math to me," Nobu said in a gentle tone.

"Is there something else going on?" Shuya asked.

"Not that I know of, but I'm kind of afraid to ask. They're really freaking me out," Yutaka admitted.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Hiroki assured him with a small smile.

"Yeah, hopefully," Yutaka agreed as Shinji gave him a pat on the back and his pudding cup.

Yutaka decided that when he got home he would simply ask his parents what was going on. It couldn't be that big of a deal.

* * *

When Yutaka got home that day he began studying. He figured if he was going to confront his parents when they got home from work, then he should at least be doing what he was supposed to be.

He felt nervous about confronting them, afraid that something really big was happening and that somehow it had managed to be his fault, but he knew he had to do it.

He studied quietly in his room until he heard the door to his house open and close. He knew it meant his mom was home from work; his dad wouldn't be home for another half hour or so. By the time his dad was home it would be time for dinner, and Yutaka figured he could talk to his parents then.

Yutaka spent the next half hour only half studying. He was looking in his math book and trying to concentrate, but he couldn't stop thinking about what his parents could be so upset about.

He felt relieved when he heard the front door open and close. He'd prefer anything to sitting around and thinking about all the things that could be wrong.

He closed his book and sat it down on his bed before he went to the bathroom to wash his hands before dinner. Once he finished he went to the kitchen and sat down in his seat at the table.

His mom had already set the table and was putting the food on it.

"Hey, Mom," Yutaka greeted nervously.

"Hi, Honey," she said looking at him sadly. "How was school?"

"Um, fine. How was work?" He asked trying to make conversation until his dad showed up.

"Oh, it was fine," she replied before she sat next to him at the table.

A second later Yutaka's dad came in and sat down at the table. The family began eating in silence.

The tension in the room was thick, just as it had been for days. Finally Yutaka couldn't take it anymore and he sat down his fork.

"What's going on?" Yutaka asked in a frustrated voice.

His parents both looked up from their food to stare at him.

"You guys have been acting weird ever since you grounded me. What's going on? Did I do something?" Yutaka asked, his tone going from frustrated to desperate.

His parents were quiet for a few seconds before his dad finally spoke up.

"I think this family needs to have a talk." His dad lifted his gaze, finally meeting Yutaka's eyes.

"About what?" Yutaka asked curiously.

"Not right now. Can Shinji come over tomorrow for dinner? We can talk then," His dad said, his eyes once again not meeting Yutaka's.

"Um, I guess, but what does Shinji have to do with anything?" Yutaka asked, but his dad was already standing up.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Yutaka," he said before he walked into his bedroom.

Yutaka looked to his mom, hoping she would offer him some sort of explanation, but she was already clearing the table while avoiding his gaze.

Yutaka sighed before walking to his room. He'd have to wait another day to figure out what was going on with his parents.

And what Shinji could possibly have to do with it.

* * *

The next day Yutaka met up with Shinji at the bleach blonde's locker.

"Hey, Shinji." Yutaka greeted as he leaned up against the locker next to his.

"Hey, Little Man. You figure out what's up with your rents?" Shinji asked kindly. He was a little concerned for Yutaka. He didn't know what could be going on with his parents, but the way the smaller boy talked about it made him worry.

Yutaka's mom was overprotective and almost overbearing, while his dad was easy going, but always on his mom's side. It was strange to think that something had his laid back dad so worked up, while his mom wasn't immediately jumping down his throat about it.

Shinji was hoping things were settled, but in the event that something bad was happening he was more than ready to drag the other boy away from school and to the arcade to get his mind off of it.

"Not exactly," Yutaka started as Shinji closed his locker and turned to listen to him. "My dad said we needed to have a family discussion about it tonight."

"Well, when you find out what's going on you can call me. Your grounding ended today, right?" Shinji asked.

"Actually, there's more," Yutaka told Shinji as they began to walk down the hallway.

"Okay, what else?" Shinji inquired as he looked at Yutaka with a raised brow.

"My dad said he wanted you to be there for the family discussion," Yutaka said while running a hand through his hair.

"I'm family now?" Shinji asked, almost letting out a laugh. "I didn't know your dad liked me so much."

"I have no idea what's going on. I tried to ask him why you needed to be there and he just told me to wait and we'd talk about it tonight," Yutaka said, his tone showing how confused he was. "You didn't, like, leave porn at my house last time you were over did you?"

"No, and it's not like they'd know it was mine even if I did. I don't exactly write my name on them," Shinji pointed out in a light chuckle.

"Well, it's not like anyone would sell me porn," Yutaka said, causing Shinji to laugh.

The boys were no strangers to porn, although Shinji was definitely the one providing access. Of course Shinji hardly ever bought porn once he discovered he could get it for free on the internet. Porn sites were one of the few things he'd shown Yutaka that the internet was capable of. Really, they looked at more porn together than was probably normal.

"Besides, I don't know why else you'd need to be there," Yutaka said sounding defeated. "Do you have any ideas?"

Shinji stayed quiet for a few seconds before he answered. "Maybe they just think you should have a friend there when they tell you whatever it is." Shinji felt bad saying it. He knew that having to have a friend there meant that it was something bad.

"I hope they just found porn," Yutaka attempted to joke, but neither boy laughed.

* * *

The day dragged on from there. Yutaka got antsier as the day went on, and Shinji was having a hard time keeping him calm. Yutaka was the kind of person who had an imagination that always took off running with possibilities.

By the time the school day was over Yutaka was convinced that his parents were either sending him to military school or that an alien invasion was coming and the only way to save earth was to sacrifice himself and Shinji.

Shinji really wished Yutaka's parents would stop letting him watch so many Sci-Fi movies. It was ridiculous how many of Yutaka's explanations for things involved aliens.

"Why would the aliens come to your parents in the first place? And what would they do with us? Start an alien basketball team? Midget racing?" Shinji asked as he attempted not to laugh at Yutaka's latest theory.

"I don't know, but somehow that seems better than being sent to military school," Yutaka said. "Just let me have my fantasy before the world comes crashing down on me," Yutaka begged as they walked together out of the school.

"The world's not going to come crashing down on you. I'm going to be right there, nothing bad is going to happen," Shinji reassured him, although he was still laughing as he said it.

"You don't know that. You haven't seen how they've been acting," Yutaka argued.

Shinji sighed before he grabbed Yutaka's arm to stop him. He then turned the smaller boy to face him.

"Yutaka, it's gonna be fine. I promise. Whatever's going on I'll help you fix it. Okay?" Shinji asked as he looked down at Yutaka.

"Yeah, okay," Yutaka agreed, but he didn't sound convinced.

"I swear I've got your back on this one, Yutaka. It'll all be frosty," Shinji said confidently before he wrapped his left arm around Yutaka's shoulders and began pulling the other teen toward his house.

Yutaka didn't say anything else on the way home, but he couldn't help but feel better having Shinji with him.

* * *

When the boys got to Yutaka's house they walked in and headed straight to Yutaka's room.

Yutaka's room was medium sized, with a bed, dresser, and stand for his TV. As Yutaka had mentioned earlier in the week, his TV was gone.

Shinji sat down on Yutaka's bed and Yutaka plopped down beside him.

"Your parents get home in an hour or two, right?" Shinji asked as he sat his backpack on the floor.

"Yeah," Yutaka answered, realizing that it'd still be awhile before he figured anything out. "Tell me something to take my mind off them."

"Like what?" Shinji asked as he lay down on Yutaka's bed.

"I don't know," Yutaka began as he moved to lie beside Shinji. "Did you ever get a hold of that girl? The one with coke can balancing ass."

Shinji laughed. "Nope, she's still ignoring me. It's too bad, she's really missing out."

"Oh yeah, it's not every day a girl finds a guy who wants to sleep with her," Yutaka joked, only to receive a light shove from Shinji.

"It's not every day a girl finds a guy as good in the sack as _me_ who wants to sleep with her," Shinji argued.

"Oh, yeah, you're a real stud Shinji. All manly and stuff," Yutaka joked.

"That's right. And if you're lucky someday you'll be as manly and stuff as me," Shinji joked back, grinning like a shark.

"I'll plenty manly! You're the one who can't get a girl to text you back." Yutaka meant it good naturedly, but the look on Shinji's face didn't seem amused.

"I didn't-" Yutaka started only to get cut off by Shinji.

"It's a shame I'm going to have to hurt you," Shinji informed him with a smirk before he grabbed Yutaka by the arm.

Within seconds the two were wrestling on the bed, with Shinji of course having the upper hand in the end.

"You shouldn't have said that, Midget," Shinji told Yutaka as he pinned him to the bed.

"I didn't mean it!" Yutaka yelled from his spot under Shinji.

"I don't know; you sounded like you did," Shinji said, humor very apparent in his tone.

"Then I take it back!" Yutaka hissed as he tried to get away from Shinji.

"Hmm, now where did you say you were ticklish again?" Shinji questioned evilly.

"Ah, Shinji, no. Come on!" Yutaka begged.

"Now, I'm thinking it may have been right around the rib area," Shinji tormented as he held Yutaka's arms with one hand and lifted Yutaka's shirt up with the other.

"No! Come on, I'm sorry!" Yutaka begged.

"I don't think sorry is really good enough. You might need to add more to that," Shinji told him as he rubbed his fingertips lightly along Yutaka's ribs.

"You are so manly. Like, girls should fight over you, but more than they already do because you're just that awesome," Yutaka rattled off, racking his mind for anything to convince the blonde boy.

"Hmm, is that all?" Shinji asked in an almost bored tone as he lightly ghosted his fingers over Yutaka's ribs again.

"No!" Yutaka cried, as he once again tried to jerk away from his best friend. "You're also so good at basketball, like the best. You could win a basketball game by yourself, while having sex with the cheerleading squad."

"Hmm," Shinji hummed, an evil look in his eyes.

"And you totally pull off the basketball shorts. You looks so hot in them," Yutaka added, his voice low and desperate.

It was at that moment that Yutaka's mom walked into his room.

She looked mortified, with her big brown eyes becoming twice their size. She froze for a minute, making no movement as she looked at the two teens in front of her.

Shinji moved to let go of Yutaka's arms and took his hand away from Yutaka's chest. One of his eyebrows was raised in question. It was like she'd never seen two guys wrestle before.

Before either of the boys could say anything, Yutaka's mom collected herself.

"Your father and I left work early. He brought food home, so please go wash up," she spoke quickly before turned around and shut the door behind her.

Shinji and Yutaka looked at one another.

"Man, what's up with her?" Shinji asked confused.

"I guess we're about to find out," Yutaka answered before he nudged Shinji, telling him to get up.

Shinji got off of Yutaka and then pulled the smaller boy to his feet before they went to wash their hands in the bathroom. Once they'd both washed their hands they walked into the kitchen only to see both of Yutaka's parents sitting at the table not saying a word.

The couple looked worried, and Yutaka's dad looked especially tired. He also looked like he'd been trying to rip his hair out with the way it was flying about his head.

The two teens shot one anther a look before they went to sit down at the table. Once they were sitting Yutaka's dad spoke.

"Do you want to eat first, or just get right to it?" he asked, his eyes meeting Yutaka's just barely.

"I just want to know what's going on," Yutaka said worriedly.

"I think you know what's going on," Yutaka's mom told him in a sharp tone.

"Calm down, Asako," Yutaka's dad said as he rubbed his wife's arm.

"How can I? He's been keeping this a secret from us for how long?" Asako was near tears she was so upset.

"Mom, I really don't know what you're talking about," Yutaka said as he looked to his dad for an explanation.

His mom looked like she was going to say something, but his dad spoke first.

"We saw the texts Yutaka," he said in a sad voice.

Yutaka's brows furrowed. "What texts? You took my phone Friday, remember?"

"Yes, and when it kept going off we looked to see what the texts said to see if they were important," His dad explained.

"And? What did they say?" Yutaka asked not understanding.

"They were from Shinji," Yutaka's dad said looking at Shinji for the first time. Shinji figured that if looks could kill he'd be dead on the spot.

Both boys looked confused before they turned to look at one another.

"What did you text me? I told you Friday I was grounded," Yutaka said looking at Shinji.

"I didn't text you anything," Shinji assured him.

"Stop lying! We have the phone right here!" Yutaka's mom yelled as she slammed it down on the table. "Why were you keeping this from us Yutaka? Did you think we wouldn't still love you if we knew? Did you think we wouldn't help you? Do you even know how dangerous this is? And you two are just texting about it as though it's perfectly normal!" Yutaka's mom only stopped yelling when she started to cry.

"How long has this been going on, Yutaka?" His father asked.

"How long has _what_ been going on? I don't know what you're talking about. Why's mom crying?" Yutaka was speaking desperately now. He didn't understand what had just happened.

"How long has _this_ been going on, Yutaka," Asako asked as she pointed at both Shinji and Yutaka. "When did you decide it was okay to throw your innocence away?"

"My innocence?" Yutaka asked, shocked and confused by what his mother was saying. What did that even _mean_?

Meanwhile Shinji had decided to pull out his own phone and see if he could figure out what all the fuss was about. His expression started as a look of complete surprise and then transformed into a grin, until he was smiling so hard that he began uncontrollably laughing.

"What do you think is so funny, Mimura?" Yutaka's dad asked as he stood up at the table, a look in his eye that said he would hit Shinji.

"Oh-Oh-God. It's not what you think!" Shinji managed to get out before he began laughing again.

"What's going on? What did you text me?" Yutaka yelled, hoping Mim would shut up and answer him.

"I- That girl. The one with the nice ass?" Shinji asked Yutaka, as though he would forget.

"What about her?" Yutaka's tone was exasperated.

"She hasn't been texting me back because I've been texting _you_ by mistake," Shinji explained, a giant grin still on his face as he handed Yutaka his phone to look at.

Yutaka quickly read through one of his texts before he looked up at his parents with a shocked expression.

"You thought he was sending these to me on purpose?" Yutaka yelped, a look of horror on his face.

"What were we supposed to think; this is your phone." Yutaka's dad yelled as he picked up Yutaka's phone.

"So those weren't for him?" Yutaka's mom asked looking at Shinji desperately.

"Of course not! I met this girl at the coffee shop and I thought I was texting her. I must've hit Yutaka's name by mistake and just kept texting it since the other messages came up. I didn't even look to make sure I was texting the right person," Shinji explained, still having to hold back from laughing.

"Why do you think this is funny?" Yutaka asked. "My parents thought that-that-"

Shinji grabbed his phone back from Yutaka before he spoke. "That I couldn't _'wait to see those pretty lips around-_ "

"Shut up!" Yutaka yelled, his face turning a bright shade of red as Shinji laughed at his expense.

"I am just so relieved that those messages weren't for you, baby," Yutaka's mom said as she came over and hugged her son tightly. His dad fell into his chair letting out a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe you thought they were! You seriously thought that Shinji and I were _like that_? _Together_?" Yutaka was embarrassed that his parents would ever think something like that.

"It doesn't matter what we thought. We're just so thankful that this was all just one big misunderstanding," Yutaka's mom said before she kissed her son's head.

"Um, it kind of matters to me!" Yutaka yelled, but his parents only ignored him as his mom sat down happily and his dad began handing out food.

"Ah, don't be upset, baby, I think we're supposed to be celebrating." Shinji joked as he wrapped an arm around Yutaka.

Yutaka responded by hitting his head off the table.


	2. A Comforting Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinji thinks everything's funny, Yutaka does not. Comforting ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate going through old stuff. There's always so much I want to change. But, alas, I promised myself no major changes to save time. So here's a cleaned up version of the old chapter.

The evening flew by quickly. Once dinner was over Yutaka's dad returned all of his son's electronics to his room with a huge smile on his face.

Yutaka's parents were both in astonishingly good moods, not just because their son wasn't gay, but because he wasn't doing the things that Shinji's texts suggested that he would. Shinji had made some pretty dirty suggestions.

No, Yutaka's parents had openly admitted afterward that they would've supported Yutaka through anything, but that the idea that he was doing such 'degrading acts' terrified them.

After said comment Mrs. Seto promptly told Shinji that she meant no offense by it.

Of course Shinji found the whole thing so comical that he had brushed off the comment without a thought. He was too busy doing everything in his power to embarrass Yutaka further. He'd spend a good ten minutes trying to figure out which pet names he preferred.

At the end of the evening everyone but Yutaka had been in a good mood. He was still embarrassed that the whole incident had transpired. He figured that most parents would've just asked their kid what was going on, but not his. No, his parents had just assumed that he was gay and willing to bend over backwards to please Shinji's sexual needs.

It would've embarrassed him had it just been he and his parents, but having Shinji there had just made it worse. The Third Man would never let him live it down

Proof came when Shinji decided to ask if he could spend the night.

"So, if I promise to keep Yutaka quiet, can I spend the night?" He'd directed the question at Yutaka's mom as he wrapped his arms around Yutaka's waist. Yutaka squirmed to get Shinji's arms off him.

"Don't push your luck," Yutaka's dad warned, although his tone was light and nonthreatening.

"Of course not," Shinji agreed with a smile that said he'd love to keep pushing it.

"Just try not to keep him up too late," Mrs. Seto told Shinji, her tone one of elation. She'd been on cloud nine since finding out that the texts weren't for Yutaka. She hadn't even lectured Shinji, which she had done on occasion when he did something that might badly influence her son.

"Mom!" Yutaka yelled, taking what she said the wrong way.

"Oh, I'll try not to," Shinji announced with his voice full of suggestion.

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that!" Mrs. Seto shouted defensively.

At that point Shinji was laughing as a red faced Yutaka turned to go to his room without a word.

Shinji waved goodnight to Yutaka's parents before he went to his best friend's room.

Yutaka had moved quickly and was already locked in the bathroom brushing his teeth and probably changing into his bed clothes, so Shinji just plopped down on his bed to wait.

When Yutaka came back into his room he was wearing a white t-shirt and black PJ pants. He half glared at Shinji upon seeing him, but Shinji didn't look bothered. Instead he smiled at Yutaka before he went to the bathroom to pee and take a swig of mouthwash.

When Shinji got back to Yutaka's room, said boy was lying directly in the middle of the bed as though to keep Shinji out.

The blonde boy almost laughed as he slid out of his school jacket and pants so that he was only in his boxers.

Shinji and Yutaka had always shared a bed when they stayed at one another's house, although that wasn't a fact that they broadcasted, so it was obvious that Yutaka was trying to make a point.

"Wanna scoot over?" Shinji asked in an amused voice as he flipped off the main light so that only the lamp by Yutaka's bed was on.

"Sleep on the couch," Yutaka said in an attempt to be nonchalant. Shinji could tell he was upset.

"Ah, are we really at the point in our relationship where you want me to sleep on the couch? Because we got there fast," Shinji joked.

Yutaka glared, a look that was eerily similar to the one Yutaka's dad had given him when he'd first started laughing about the texts.

Shinji let out a small sigh, but the smile stayed on his face as he shoved Yutaka to make space for himself on the bed.

"Come on, Yutaka. How am I supposed to cuddle you from the couch?" Shinji asked as he pulled Yutaka closer to him.

"Shinji…" Yutaka's tone and small shove was enough to give Shinji a feel of the situation.

Shinji let go in favor of lifting himself up on his right arm and staring at Yutaka. "Talk to me, Midget."

Yutaka let out a sigh as all of the anger on his face vanished. He turned on his left side to face Shinji.

"My parents thought I was gay," Yutaka said as though that explained everything.

"Midget, it's not like they just came out and asked out of the blue. They wouldn't have ever thought that if it wasn't for the texts," Shinji reasoned.

"But they should have asked me, not just assumed they were for me. They shouldn't have thought I was gay," Yutaka argued.

"Hey, at least they thought you had landed a stud like me," Shinji said, making Yutaka laugh despite himself.

"They should have known by the stuff you said that they weren't for me," Yutaka said, but his tone was less upset than it had been.

"Ah, come on, Little Man. We're sixteen year old guys. It's not like they'd think we were together and not doing anything," Shinji said with a laugh.

"Mim, you know I read through the texts, right? I mean, no offense, but there's no age where I'm going to be okay with role playing as a cheerleader for you," Yutaka pointed out.

"Okay, so maybe that one should've been a hint," Shinji relinquished with a snort of laughter. "But people who are in love do crazy shit to make each other happy. And you're the type of guy to do crazy shit to keep someone happy."

"Maybe I am, but I don't think I'll ever love someone enough to dress up like a cheerleader," Yutaka said lightly shaking his head at the thought.

"Ah, come on. Not for anyone? What if Izumi Kanai was into that?" Shinji asked smiling.

"Ah, Mim, don't mention her. You know she's with Numai," Yutaka reminded him.

"So what?" Shinji asked. He didn't really get why that mattered. It wasn't like Yutaka had to advertise his crush on Izumi to Mitsuru.

"So she's actually happy with him, and he's been good to her," Yutaka said.

It was true. The couple had gotten together only a couple of months ago, but they were happy. Mitsuru had made it clear to his gang to be nice to her, and he had been getting into less trouble lately. Meanwhile Izumi was completely going against her father's wishes by dating him. She'd always been taught not to judge other people, and when her father started wanting her to she couldn't.

At first the couple had been a scandal, but as time passed people saw them being together as a good thing.

"So you're over her?" Shinji asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just have a hard time wanting to be with her when I know he's making her happy. I wouldn't want her to be with me when she's happy with him. Does that make since?" Yutaka asked.

Shinji smiled. "Nah, but I didn't really get it to begin with."

"Yeah," Yutaka laughed. "It's probably better this way anyway. I bet no one has ever thought that Numai is gay."

Shinji let out a snort. "He hangs out with _Sho_ and worships the ground Kazuo walks on. It wouldn't even surprise me."

"You get my point," Yutaka said, his tone showing that he's a little amused.

"I get that you're being a little over dramatic 'Taka," The rarely ever used nickname softened the harshness of his statement. "Girls are stupid and don't know who's good for them until they've dated a few assholes. And even then I think it may just be luck."

Yutaka laughed.

" _My_ point is that this whole gay thing had nothing to do with you not being good enough for some chick, so stop thinking that. Love will come and all that shit," Shinji said easily. "Now stop being pissy at me and come here," Shinji demanded while lifting an arm up, although Yutaka had obviously stopped being mad at him a long time ago.

"Yeah, alright, Shinji," Yutaka said with an amused eye roll as he scooted closer.

With that Shinji turned and clicked off the lamp before flopping onto his stomach and throwing an arm around Yutaka.

It was only gay if they wanted it to be.


	3. Coming Out to Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinji and Yutaka's friends find out how the weekend went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ta-da!

Shinji had disappeared not long into Saturday with intentions of seeing Yukari and getting what he'd been waiting for the whole week.

Yutaka, on the other hand, spent what was left of his weekend with Keita. The two boys had seen an action movie and played video games late into the night. Yutaka had kept his mouth shut about what had happened with his parents and Shinji. It was the kind of thing Keita would rag on him for forever. It seemed that all of Yutaka's friends were that way.

On the plus side, that meant he wasn't at all surprised when Shinji continued to find the incident funny on Monday.

"Hey, babe, how was the rest of your weekend? Did you miss me?" Shinji asked with a smirk as he came to stand beside Yutaka at his locker.

"Terribly. I had to call Keita over to keep me company, but he just doesn't love me like you do," Yutaka joked unable to help himself. The whole thing was embarrassing, but he was a natural born joker and he just couldn't help himself when he saw the opportunity.

"He better not. I'd have to kick his ass," Shinji said, seemingly thrilled that Yutaka was now finding at least some humor in what had happened.

"I didn't peg you as the jealous type," Yutaka said as he shut his locker.

"I prefer to think of it as defending your honor," Shinji countered as they began their walk to class.

"Oh, well, my hero," Yutaka said, making Shinji let out a small chuckle.

"Damn straight," Shinji agreed before he walked into the classroom with Yutaka walking slightly behind him.

The banter probably would've continued had the teacher not walked into the room a few seconds after they did. Instead Shinji sent Yutaka his signature wink, which made Yutaka smile the way it usually did, before he sat down in his seat.

* * *

Lunch time came around a few hours later. Yutaka hoped he could keep the events of his weekend a secret, but he knew that the odds were against him.

Shinji wasn't one to keep a joke a secret. As far as secret keeping in general went Shinji was like a vault, but this was something he'd been directly involved in, making it as much his business as Yutaka's. At least in his eyes. Yutaka disagreed.

Shinji, Yutaka, Hiroki, Shuya, and Yoshitoki were all sitting at their table eating lunch when the dreaded question was asked.

"So how did things go with your parents, Yutaka?" Yoshitoki asked kindly.

"Oh, ah, fine," Yutaka answered, trying to keep the light blush off of his face as Shinji began laughing.

"What happened?" Shuya asked looking between the two boys who obviously knew something that he didn't.

"Nothing," Yutaka answered forcefully as he shot Shinji a glare.

"Ah, come on, babe. Don't be like that. I feel like you're ashamed of me," Shinji almost cooed making Yoshitoki almost choke on his drink, as Hiroki's eyebrow shot up before he began tapping his nose. Shuya simply turned his head to the side in confusion.

"Shut up, Mim," Yutaka almost whined, wanting more than anything for his best friend to shut his mouth.

"Um, so what's going on?" Yoshitoki asked looking between the two boys.

"Nothing! There was a tiny miscommunication going on, but it's fixed now," Yutaka explained quickly.

"This was tiny for you?" Shinji asked with a large shark-like smirk on his face.

"Can you please drop it?" Yutaka asked.

"Can someone please fill us in?" Shuya asked eagerly. He really wanted to know what had happened.

"Now, I can't do both, guys," Shinji said as he leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes looking proud of himself.

"Shinji, for fucks sake-" Yutaka started, before Shinji interrupted.

"Fine, fine," Shinji seemingly surrendered while putting his hands in the air. "I wouldn't want to piss anyone off…"

Yutaka let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He felt better knowing Shinji would finally just shut up.

"By not telling them that Yutaka's parents saw the dirty texts I was sending him." The grin on Shinji's face was broad and proud.

"Wait- What?" Shuya asked with his eyes as wide as saucers.

"I'd been sending Yutaka dirty texts all week, you know the kind, and his parents saw them and flipped out," Shinji explained nonchalantly before he took a drink of his milk.

"When you say dirty, you mean like-" Nobu was interrupted by Shinji.

"I mean sexual texts about what I would like to do later behind closed doors," Shinji supplied.

The looks on the boys' faces were all shocked and unbelieving. None of them seemed to know what to say. It was in that moment that Yutaka finally spoke up again.

"They weren't actually meant for me!" Yutaka yelled, gaining a little attention from other tables around the room.

"Might want to keep your voice down, sweetheart, people are starting to stare." Yutaka felt his face heat up at the nickname.

"So you guys are-" Shuya was the first one able to speak, but Yutaka cut him off before he could finish the thought.

"No!" Yutaka hissed trying to stay quiet. "Why is it so easy for everyone to think that?"

"I'm lost," Hiroki said hoping to get to the point. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Well, it's pretty simple, Hiroki," Shinji began before he spared a look over to Yutaka. The glare on his friends face made it clear that he was one joke away from actually getting mad. Shinji decided he'd had enough fun, at least for the moment "You know that girl I was texting?"

Hiroki's eyebrows furrowed together as if trying to figure out the connection. "Yes."

"Well, her name was beside Yutaka's in my phone and I kept accidentally texting him. Since he was grounded his parents had his phone and took the liberty of checking out the messages," Shinji explained. "Let's just say they weren't pleased with what they thought I wanted to do to their one and only."

It only took a few seconds for the awkwardness to wear off before the boys started laughing.

"H-How didn't they catch on that they were meant for a girl?" Shuya asked between laughs.

"Well you guys seemed ready to believe it," Yutaka grumbled.

"We didn't have Shinji's texts in front of us," Yoshitoki said as he calmed his laughing.

"Seriously, I thought you were a boob man, Mim? How didn't they catch on that they were meant for a girl?" Shuya asked.

"Her ass was her best asset," Shinji answered with a shrug.

"Your parents must have been pretty freaked out," Hiroki said to Yutaka.

"You have no idea. My mom was crying about my _innocence._ It was horrible," Yutaka admitted with his face still red.

"I thought your dad was going to hit me when I started laughing," Shinji mused as he looked at Yutaka.

"That's because he was going to hit you!" Yutaka yelled quietly, his tone half amused.

"And just when I thought I was part of the family. Got invited over for dinner and everything," Shinji said faking a disappointed tone as his friends laughed.

"I'm pretty sure they just wanted you there so they could yell at you after they finished yelling at me," Yutaka said.

"Why would they want to yell at me? I was obviously playing the role of fulfilling boyfriend. You were the one tossing your _innocence_ around," Shinji joked with a grin on his face.

"Oh, really? Because when I read through the texts it seemed like you were playing the role of horny pervert doing his best to corrupt the innocent," Yutaka shot back at the others laughed.

"Please tell me you guys still have these texts," Shuya choked out around his laughter.

"Afraid not, man," Shinji answered with a shrug. "Guess you'll just have to imagine."

"Actually I haven't deleted them all yet," Yutaka said as he looked at Shinji with a smirk.

"Them all?" Yoshitoki asked.

"How many were there?" Hiroki sounded surprised.

"Quite a few. Shinji just didn't give up on this one," Yutaka said looking at Shinji deviously.

"There weren't that many," Shinji said with an eye roll.

Yutaka took his phone out of his pocket and went to his texts. "Really? Because this kind of seems like a lot."

Yutaka knew that at the moment he held the upper hand, and he fully planned on taking advantage of it.

"Hey, let me see!" Shuya cried excitedly reaching for Yutaka's phone.

"You don't need to read all the crap I tried sending to that chick," Shinji said as he reached out for Yutaka's phone, only to have Yutaka give it to Shuya a second before he could get to it.

"I'd hate to piss him off by not letting him see them," Yutaka told Shinji with a smirk.

Shinji was only able to hold his glare for a second before he shook his head in disapproval with a look of slight amusement on his face.

Shuya only had to read for about fifteen seconds before he turned to Shinji with a look that was half disgust and half amusement.

"Holy crap, Mim! There are like twenty texts!" And from the look on his face he didn't find them appropriate.

"Does this stuff actually work with girls?" Yoshitoki asked as he read over Shuya's shoulder. He was blushing just by reading them.

Shinji just shrugged. "I only had to text her once when I got the right number. By the way, the sex was pretty fucking fantastic."

"' _I can't wait to see those pretty lips wrapped around my giant cock,''_ " Shuya read with a smile. "That's good, Mim."

"Like poetry," Yoshi added.

"I did end up with lips around my giant cock this weekend, if anyone cares." Shinji mentioned seemingly unbothered.

"Oh! This is a good one! ' _I keep thinking about that beautiful ass of yours,'"_ Shuya had started laughing so hard half way through that he could barely finish reading the text. "' _I just want to do you so hard from behind and give that ass a good spanking.'"_

"I also did that this weekend," Shinji said, but he wasn't heard over the sounds of his friends' laughter.

Shuya finally stopped laughing only to scroll through the texts and find another that sent him into a fit.

"I can't believe you sent these! Listen, _'And I'm more than willing to return the favor. I know you want me to. I could tell with the way you were clutching your legs together so tightly on Friday, staring at my mouth when I talked. I bet you can't wait to feel my tongue inside you all hot and wet, you slut. I'll make you scream my name until your voice gives out.'_ " Shuya was snickering while Hiroki was red and tapping his nose.

Yoshitoki was just confused.

"How did they think that was for Yutaka?" Yoshitoki asked. "I mean, Yutaka doesn't really have the, uh, _parts_ to do that with."

"I wondered the same thing," Yutaka said looking to Shinji.

Shuya finally stopped laughing and furrowed his eyebrows together. "Yeah, how didn't they catch that?"

Hiroki said nothing, but he seemed to be on the same page as the other boys, minus Shinji.

Shinji looked around the table with a look on his face that asked, 'Are you guys serious?' before he began laughing.

"What?" Yutaka asked confused.

"I'm guessing they thought I was going to do that the same way they thought I was doing everything else," Shinji answered before waiting to see if the boys caught on. Hiroki and Yoshitoki seemed to catch on, but Shuya and Yutaka still looked confused.

"A rim job," Shinji said with a look that said he expected that answer to clear things up. When he was still met with a blank look from Shuya and Yutaka he sighed before he leaned a little closer to the two boys. "It's when you stick your tongue up someone's ass."

The two boys acquired twin looks of disgust, causing Shinji to laugh.

"That's so gross," Shuya exclaimed.

"Why would anyone do that?" Yutaka asked with revulsion.

"Don't know; I've never been on either side of that one. I think it's a slut thing. And man, Yutaka, did your parents think you were slutting it up for me," Shinji replied as he leaned back in his seat, once more looking content.

The boys all managed a laugh as Yutaka went red in the face. It was while that laughing occurred that Shinji suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Yutaka's phone from Shuya's hand.

"Hey!" Shuya yelled as Shinji stuffed the phone into his pocket. He probably would've yelled more had a teacher not walked up to their table.

"Boys, I think you know the rule about cell phones," the teacher said as he looked around the table. "Hand it over Mr. Mimura, you can have it back at the end of the day."

Shinji let out a sigh as he pulled his own phone out of his pocket and gave it to the teacher in place of Yutaka's. To Shinji's annoyance the man took the time to examine his screen as though to see what they had all been looking at.

"Try to stay out of trouble boys," The teacher told them before he pocketed the phone and walked away.

"Shit, that was close," Shuya sighed.

"No kidding," Yoshitoki added as his eyes watched the teacher walk farther away.

"And no doubt that asshole is going to try to go snooping through my phone now." Shinji scowled. His biggest pet peeve was people messing with his things, particularly his computer books. You didn't fuck with The Third Man's computer books. But fucking with his phone wasn't much better.

"Thanks for covering," Yutaka said feeling bad that Shinji's phone had gotten taken away.

"Anything for you, darling," Shinji replied with a lewd grin, making Yutaka snort. "Plus, I kind of had to. I don't think he would've believed us about the texts as easily as your parents did."

"It's a good thing you already deleted all of your messages to Yutaka," Hiroki said looking relieved in a way that he hadn't a few moments prior.

"Yeah, you guys would've been screwed if you hadn't," Shuya agreed soberly as he thought of the damage that could have actually been done.

"Eh, wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't. I already changed Yutaka's name in my phone so I wouldn't mix it up with Yukari's again," Shinji told his friends.

"Why didn't you change _her_ name?" Yutaka asked seemingly offended that his name had to be changed before a girl who Shinji was probably already done with.

"Because I didn't have a great nickname in mind for her," Shinji said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What did you change it to?" Shuya asked just before they heard the bell rang.

"I'll never tell," Shinji joked as they all stood up.

Shuya laughed as he and Yoshitoki walked away to their lockers. Hiroki just shook his head good naturedly before he walked away to find Takako.

Yutaka was about to walk toward the classroom when Shinji grabbed him around the waist from behind and bent down to whisper in his ear, "It's Cum Dumpster."

Yutaka's eyes went wide and his face reddened with embarrassment as Shinji rose up and began laughing as he walked away.

"I'm going to change your name to Shit Head in my phone," Yutaka hissed as he ran up to Shinji.

"Really? Because your phone is in my pocket, and I'm really feeling 'Sex Master.' Maybe with a little heart next to it? What do you think?" Shinji asked jokingly.

"I think you're delusional and should give me my phone back," Yutaka said reaching for Shinji's pocket.

Shinji dodged his hand and laughed. "Come on, Midget, you can't put your hand in my pants at school. Have some self-control, babe." Shinji joked quietly.

"Yeah, _I'm_ the one who can't control my sexual urges," Yutaka said sarcastically.

"It's not my fault you're such a stud," Shinji argued as he winked.

Yutaka laughed, beginning to get less embarrassed by Shinji's comments. "Whatever. Just give me my phone back."

"As soon as I get mine back I'll give you yours," Shinji offered as they turned into the hallway their class was in.

"Fine," Yutaka agreed with a jokingly irritated tone, although it was obvious that he didn't really care.

Shinji just smiled in response before he gave a soft squeeze to the back of Yutaka's neck. Yutaka shook off the shiver that ran down his spine as he walked into the classroom ahead of Shinji.


	4. Rejected Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Third Man turning down a date? What's up with that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter coming at ya.

Over the next two weeks things became normal. Yutaka wouldn't quite say things had gone back to the way that they were, but that the things that were happening had become a new normal for him.

Shinji had stopped bringing up the incident with Yutaka's parents, but he didn't stop calling Yutaka by stupid pet names. He had also been extra affectionate, giving Yutaka more than the typical leading arm around his shoulders. It seemed like Shinji was always touching him, whether it be an arm around his shoulders or waist, or a hand gently rubbing circles on his back.

It was strange. It was pleasant. Yutaka hadn't said a word about it.

Meanwhile the other boys who knew everything that had happened had joined in a little on the joke. They'd tease them anytime the two were going to hang out alone, usually telling them to keep it PG, and whenever a cute girl walked by they would wait for her to get out of hearing distance before one of them chastised Shinji about looking at her in front of Yutaka. Of course that usually led to Shinji jokingly denying looking anywhere but at Yutaka. It usually led to Yutaka complaining about how he got stuck as the girl in all of it.

Shinji usually laughed off Yutaka's complaints saying that if he wanted to feel like the man in things he could buy Shinji dinner. Yutaka had yet to buy Shinji anything.

Basically things had settled for Yutaka by the time Kayo Tanaka walked up to where he was standing against the school wall with Shinji and Shuya, waiting for Nobu and Hiroki. The other boys were still inside the school.

"Hi, Shinji, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kayo asked smiling flirtatiously at the bleach blonde.

Shinji smiled lewdly at Shuya and Yutaka before he began walking away from them. "Sure, let's walk," he said before he looked back at his friends. "I'll be back in a minute."

Kayo seemed to look upset by Shinji announcing he'd be back so soon, but she recovered quickly as she and Shinji walked away.

"Looks like Shinji is going to have a date for Saturday," Yutaka said to Shuya.

"Yeah, I guess he's moving on from Yukari," Shuya agreed.

"Well, it _has_ been two weeks. What did you expect?" Yutaka joked, something about it sounding off even to him.

Shuya didn't seem to notice, or at least he didn't call attention to it, as he let out a small laugh. "I guess that's true."

Kayo Tanaka wasn't in their class. She was in class C, the one that Shinji had the most 'followers' in. Lots of girls in class C had crushes on Shinji. They always showed up at his games and fought to cheer the loudest.

Of course Kayo was one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest, in class C. She also had a lot of confidence, which was why she had no problem approaching Shinji while he was with his friends. She had also recently broken up with her long term boyfriend, and rumor had it that she was ready to move on.

The boys weren't standing there much longer before Shinji was walking back toward them. He looked unaffected by his conversation. However, Kayo had to walk past them to head toward her house, and she looked absolutely _pissed_.

"Man, what did you _do_?" Shuya asked as he watched the girl stomp past.

"Nothing," Shinji replied with a shrug. "Some chicks just can't handle rejection."

"Wait- You rejected her?" Shuya asked while looking at Shinji like he had two heads. "Why?"

Shinji once again wore a face of indifference. "Just don't feel like playing rebound guy for her."

Yutaka raised an eyebrow at his reasoning. Shinji loved playing rebound guy. Girls looking for a rebound never stayed around long, which meant he got to sleep with them and then they left not long after. Not to mention girls on the rebound seemed to move faster than they normally would.

Shinji caught the look Yutaka was giving him and something in his face seemed to crack before he turned to face the school where the front door had just opened to reveal Hiroki and Yoshitoki.

"Hey, hurry up!" Shinji called to the boys as he began walking forward.

He didn't look back to where Yutaka was still staring.

* * *

The five boys didn't all part ways at the same time. Shuya and Yoshitoki had been the first two to leave the group since the orphanage was only a couple blocks from the school. From there Shinji, Yutaka, and Hiroki walked a few more streets before Hiroki separated from them to head towards his house.

Once it was just him and Shinji, Yutaka turned his head to look at the blonde boy.

"So why did you really turn down Kayo?" Yutaka asked as they continued to walk. It would only be another minute or two before Shinji would turn right to go to his house, and Yutaka would continue forward to his own.

"I told you guys why," Shinji answered easily as he slid his hands into his pockets.

"Man, come one, we both know you lied. You love girls on the rebound," Yutaka argued as he stared at Shinji.

"Yeah, usually," Shinji said. "I guess I just wasn't in the mood this time."

"You weren't in the mood?" Yutaka asked still not really believing the things Mim was saying. "Why?"

"I just wasn't," Shinji replied curtly.

"Why are you lying about this?" Yutaka asked just as they reached Shinji's street.

"Why are you on my ass about it?" Shinji asked as he stopped to stare at Yutaka.

The look on Shinji's face combined with the tone of his voice made Yutaka cringe. Yutaka rarely, if ever, saw Shinji annoyed or angry. Shinji was the kind of guy who knew how to keep his cool. It took a trained eye to catch The Third Man in a mood. Usually if the blonde didn't say anything about his mood no one would know about it.

Of course this time was an exception. It was obvious to Yutaka that Shinji was annoyed. It was also obvious that he was being defensive.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so defensive about it," Yutaka said, his voice displaying both his anger and hurt.

Shinji let out a sigh and with it he seemed to return to his typical cool state of mind.

"Look, I didn't mean it like that, Yutaka," Shinji said calmly. "I just don't want to talk about Kayo right now."

"Yeah, whatever," Yutaka relented as he started to walk again. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later," Shinji said to his friend's retreating back before he too turned to go to his house


	5. Text Confessionals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinji and Yutaka text, but not the sexy kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope no one ever believes me when i say things like 'I'll have this all posted within a week.' Because I'm a liar, guys. And I'm so slow.

When Yutaka got home he found a note on the refrigerator from his father. Both of his parents were working the late shift and wouldn't be home until after midnight. There were leftovers in the fridge for when he got hungry, and there was no reason for him to wait up for them.

Yutaka knew being told not to wait up meant to try and actually go to bed at a decent time, but he knew as well as they did that that wasn't going to happen. He always stayed up late on the weekends.

He threw the note into the trash before he went to play video games in his room. He was still irritated about things with Shinji and was hoping that the games would take his mind off of things. Of course he didn't play for long before he realized it wasn't really helping.

He just didn't understand why Shinji was lying to him. He had always been honest with Shinji, even when it was embarrassing, so he didn't get why Shinji wasn't being honest with him. The more he thought about it the more upset he got. He felt betrayed, but at the same time he knew he shouldn't be quite as angry as he was.

So Shinji was lying about why he wouldn't get with a girl, so what? It didn't affect him so he shouldn't even care. And yet he just couldn't get himself to calm down.

He threw his controller on the floor before he got up and turned off the game. He decided to change out of his school uniform and into a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts before he flopped back onto his bed and sighed. He just wanted things to feel normal again.

Meanwhile Shinji wasn't feeling much better.

He hadn't been feeling good since he separated from Yutaka. He felt like bad for not telling Yutaka what was really going on with him. Of course he had his reasons for doing so.

Ever since the misunderstanding with Yutaka's parents he'd been feeling differently around Yutaka. It was like the situation opened up a whole new world of thoughts and feelings that Shinji had never even considered having before. He hated it. It felt good.

At least it felt good when Yutaka wasn't mad at him.

He was currently sitting on his bed throwing a basketball up and down in his hands just like he had been for the last half hour. His parents were both gone. His mother was at some class or another, he thought flower arranging, but he wasn't sure. His mother was involved in a lot of activities to help distract her from the fact that her husband was cheating on her, and her son could barely stand to look at her. His father was working. Whether he was working or 'working' he couldn't say. It was probably the latter.

His sister was in her room, and he was tempted to go ask her to do something. He knew she was currently on the phone with one of her friends, but he knew she would get off to spend time with him if he asked.

Of course he knew that he'd just be using her for a distraction. Not to mention Ikumi knew him well enough that she'd know that something was bothering him.

So instead he continued to toss the basketball by himself until he couldn't take it anymore. He put the ball of the floor and grabbed his phone. He looked through his contacts until he found 'Cum Dumpster' and then clicked on it.

He was tired of overthinking it. He was tired of lying to his best friend and being worried about things he shouldn't care about. Every time he went on his computer he was breaking the law and risking a couple of years in a detention center, and it hardly fazed him anymore. So what he had to say to Yutaka shouldn't either.

He was done making excuses. It was time to just say what he was thinking and then let the pieces fall where they may. His uncle hadn't raised a coward, and he sure as hell wouldn't act like one.

He sent the message and then sat his phone down to wait.

Yutaka was still lying in his bed when he heard his phone ping, signaling that he had a text message. When he sat up on his bed and picked it up he was only a little surprised to see that it was from Shinji, A.K.A. Shit Head.

He opened the message only to be confused by what it said.

**To: Cum Dumpster  
From: Shit Head  
Message: Do you ever think about it?**

He had no idea what Shinji was talking about. Did he ever think about what? The last thing they were talking about was Shinji not wanting to get with Kayo. Did Shinji want to know if Yutaka ever thought about being with her? Because that made no sense. Or maybe asking if he ever thought about being someone's rebound?

Yutaka had no idea so he sent a message expressing that.

When Shinji heard his phone ding he opened the new message from Yutaka.

**To: Shit Head  
From: Cum Dumpster  
Message: Think about what?**

Shinji sighed. It was obvious that he needed to be more specific. He knew he'd have to be. He quickly sent out his next reply.

Yutaka opened Shinji's text as soon as it came.

**To: Cum Dumpster  
From: Shit Head  
Message: About what your parents thought was happening with us. Do you ever think about it?**

Yutaka had to read the message twice before he even thought of responding. He was confused about what Shinji meant, and he didn't want to respond in the wrong way. It took a few minutes, but he finally managed to type out a response for Shinji.

When Shinji's phone finally went off he felt a little relieved. It had been taking Yutaka a long time to reply and he had wondered if the smaller boy had decided not to. He opened his message while trying not to care about what it said.

**To: Shit Head  
From: Cum Dumpster  
Message: I'm not sure if I know what you mean, it's not like I can forget it. I mean, it was a pretty embarrassing moment… Is that what you meant?**

Shinji let out a light laugh. Yutaka had to know that wasn't what he meant. Still, it didn't surprise him that Yutaka had answered that way. It was typical. He didn't want to risk a misinterpretation. In a way it comforted him. In another way it reminded him that he was feeling way more anxious than he had in a long time. He needed to chill. He needed to stay frosty.

He sent out his reply quickly before he could change his mind.

Yutaka opened the text, not sure what to expect.

**To: Cum Dumpster  
From: Shit Head  
Message: No. I mean do you ever think about us being an ** _**us** _ **? Like a couple. I sometimes do.**

Yutaka only read the text once before he dropped his phone. He couldn't believe what Shinji was saying. He hadn't expected it, not even a little.

Shinji thought about them being a couple.

Shinji thought about them being a couple.

Shinji _actually_ thought about them being a couple.

There was no way. Yutaka's mind whirled at the thought. He had to have misread it.

He scrambled to pick up the phone, but upon further inspection he found that he'd read everything correctly. He didn't know what to say.

He didn't know how long he sat staring at the message before he received another from Shinji.

**To: Cum Dumpster  
From: Shit Head  
Message: I didn't mean to freak you out. We don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. It's not a big deal. I've just been thinking too much lately. You know me, there's always too much bouncing around in my head ;)**

Yutaka seemed to snap out of his trance when he read Shinji's second message. He shook his head before he sent out his reply.

Shinji braced himself when he finally received a reply. He'd waited twenty minutes after he'd sent the text Yutaka didn't respond to before he'd sent his second. He had been worried that he wouldn't get another response, but after getting once he was dreading what it would say.

**To: Shit Head  
From: Cum Dumpster  
Message: I don't want to talk about this over text. I want to talk in person.**

Shinji wasn't sure how to take that. Texts didn't really display emotion well, and he wondered how freaked out Yutaka was.

He wasn't a coward, but he didn't want to mess things up with Yutaka either. He'd already put the idea out there, and he figured it might be best to just give Yutaka time to process the information.

He wrote his response before sending it to Yutaka, feeling better having done it.

When Yutaka opened and read the message he frowned.

**To: Cum Dumpster  
From: Shit Head  
Message: I understand, and we can talk sometime if you want. But it's seriously not that big of a deal. It can wait.**

Yutaka shook his head before he replied.

Shinji opened the message and was surprised by what it said.

**To: Shit Head  
From: Cum Dumpster  
Message: I don't want to wait. You can come over now and we can talk. My parents are working late.**

Shinji looked the message over twice before he shook his head and stood up. He left his room and walked down the hall to his sister's door. He knocked before he cracked the door to look at her.

"Hey, Ikumi, I'm going to Yutaka's. I'm not sure when I'll be back," Shinji said quietly since his sister was still on the phone.

His sister covered the speaker before she spoke. "Okay, I was about to ask you if I could go to Minako's house anyway." Shinji was in charge whenever his parents were gone, which was most of the time.

"Yeah, knock yourself out. Are you gonna stay the night?" Shinji asked.

"Probably," she said looking up at Shinji for approval. When he shrugged she uncovered the speaker. "Yeah, Minako, I can come over. I'll see you soon," she said before hanging up.

Shinji had already turned around when Ikumi spoke to him.

"If you get home early and want to do something you can call me. Minako and I probably won't be doing much anyway," Ikumi offered as she looked up at her brother. He knew she could tell something was off.

"Yeah, alright. Same goes for you, kid," Shinji said affectionately as he faced her once more, making sure to smile at her reassuringly.

She smiled in reply before she got up to hug him goodbye. Shinji could honestly say she was the only living relative he still gave a shit about.

"I'll see you," Ikumi said as she let go.

"Same. And stay out of trouble. Don't do anything I would do," Shinji warned before he shut the door to his sister's room.

Once he was walking toward his front door he pulled out his phone and sent Yutaka a message.

**To: Cum Dumpster**  
From: Shit Head  
Message: Alright, I'll be over soon.


	6. Dibs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yutaka and Shinji talk feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost the end! Note: things get sexual at the end of this chapter. If you get to that bit and aren't into it, you can skip to the last chapter.

Yutaka paced around his house until he heard a knock on the door. He knew the knock had to come from Shinji, although it surprised him. Shinji was well aware of where Yutaka's family hid their spare key, and he usually had no problem using it.

Yutaka took a deep breath before he walked to the door and opened it. As he expected, Shinji was standing behind it, looking comfortable in his jeans and cutoff.

"Hey, Yutaka," Shinji greeted.

"Hey," Yutaka said before he stepped aside to let Shinji into the house.

The Third Man walked into the house, where the tension only continued to grow as Yutaka shut and locked the door.

When Yutaka turned away from the door Shinji was leaning against the nearest wall, waiting for Yutaka to say something.

"We can talk here," he said motioning to the couch in the living room. Once they were both on the couch they sat in silence for a few seconds.

"We really don't have to talk about this. It's not a big deal," Shinji said nonchalantly as he laid back into his seat on the couch.

"I want to talk about it anyway," Yutaka said as he turned to look at Shinji. He looked completely indifferent.

Shinji shrugged as he looked at Yutaka. "Alright."

Yutaka let out a groan in frustration.

"What?" Shinji asked.

"Can you stop doing that?" Yutaka asked, his voice a step away from a hiss.

"Stop doing what?" Shinji asked with a raised brow.

"Stop doing the whole 'I'm too cool for things to matter to me' thing." Yutaka clarified.

"The 'I'm too cool for things to matter to me' thing?" Shinji asked sounding amused.

"Yeah, that thing. Like," Yutaka started before he leaned back in his seat, spread his legs wide and put his arms over the back of the couch. "Oh, I'm Shinji, I'm so mature and put together, and I don't have feelings. Did you catch the basketball game?" Yutaka glared as he spoke in a deep voice that didn't actually sound anything like Shinji.

"Seriously, Mim, how long have we been friends? I know when you're fronting me," Yutaka said as he moved to sit how he was originally.

"I'm not fronting you. I just- I don't want to fuck us up over something I've only been thinking about for a couple of weeks. I don't want to lie to you, but I don't know what you want me to say here," Shinji confessed as he leaned forward and ran a hand through his gelled hair.

"I just want you to tell me what you've been thinking about. That's not going to fuck us up," Yutaka said quietly.

Shinji let out a humorless laugh before he looked at Yutaka.

"You want to know what I've been thinking about?" Shinji asked with a forced smile. "You. It's all been you. The way you smile at me when you see me in the morning. The way you can get the whole class laughing without even trying. The way you laugh- fuck, the way you laugh. It drives me fuckin' crazy and I just want to hear it again and again. Fuck, Yutaka, you're all I've thought about. And it feels so _good_ , but then I realize what the fuck I'm doing and I just- I don't know," Shinji confessed as he pulled at his hair. "I'm trying to keep calm here, but I don't feel things like this. I've never felt like this before. And I don't want to bring you into this before I know what I'm doing."

Yutaka tried to soak in everything Shinji said, but it all just seemed too strange.

"You've really been thinking about me like that? Like, romantically?" Yutaka asked nervously.

Shinji looked over at Yutaka, looking slightly angry.

"Have you even been listening to me? That's what I'm telling you. Geez, Yutaka, please try to keep up with me here," Shinji said, trying to calm himself. His heart was beating too fast and he was having a hard time not taking his frustration out on Yutaka. He just wasn't used to the hot feeling in his gut, the feeling that seemed to be a constant whenever he was around Yutaka or even thinking about him.

"Sorry, I just don't get how you can feel that way," Yutaka said, and Shinji's heart seemed to clinch in his chest before Yutaka continued. "I mean, I'm _me_ and you're _you_. Why would you want someone like me?"

Shinji was baffled. For one, that was the thing Yutaka was concerned with? For two, what the fuck was he talking about?

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked feeling extremely confused.

"You're you. You're the Third Man," Yutaka explained using the nickname that people never actually used to Shinji's face. "You're awesome at basketball, you're smart, you get all the girls, you're fun, and you're good looking. I just don't get why you would feel that way about me. Even if you were going to think about guys, I wouldn't think I'd be the one you wanted. I'm nothing special."

Shinji stared at Yutaka incredulously, wondering how long he'd felt like that and if Yutaka felt inadequate even in their friendship.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked. "Yutaka, you're awesome. You're the kindest person I know, and you're so genuine. You're the only person I know who never bullshits with me. If you say something you mean it. And you're funny. You're the only person who can really make me laugh- like that real, hard laugh that makes my stomach hurt. …And, ya know, for what it's worth, I think you're pretty, uh, cute?" Shinji finished awkwardly, not really sure on the proper protocol for telling another guy that he thought he was attractive.

Yutaka looked down and blushed at Shinji's compliment, having never been called cute by anyone. He then smiled as he thought of all of the nice things Shinji had said.

"Sorry if that's weird or anything," Shinji apologized as an afterthought. Yutaka was staring at the floor, effectively hiding his reaction from Shinji.

"No, it's not. It's, uh, kinda nice actually," Yutaka said, his face still a little red.

"Kinda nice, eh?" Shinji asked with a light smile as he tried to lean down far enough to see Yutaka's face.

"I've… I've kinda really liked the last couple of weeks. Like, how, ah, affectionate you've been," Yutaka admitted, embarrassed.

"Really?" Shinji asked surprised. He hadn't expected Yutaka to be as cool as he was being. He'd thought Yutaka would at least be a little freaked out.

"Yeah. I've been trying not to think too much about it, but I-I, uh, _really_ liked it," Yutaka told Shinji, hoping he'd understand what he meant.

Shinji's eyes widened a little in realization, and Yutaka looked away shyly. Shinji then grinned lewdly.

"You like it when I touch you?" Shinji asked in a low voice before he placed a hand on Yutaka's knee.

Yutaka turned his head to look Shinji in the eye and somehow the direct eye contact made his nervousness evaporate.

"Did I fuckin' stutter?" Yutaka asked as he slid Shinji's hand a little farther up his leg.

Shinji looked surprised until Yutaka began grinning boldly, showing he hadn't been completely serious.

"You little shit," Shinji cursed before he moved to push Yutaka down on the couch.

Shinji and Yutaka only wrestled for a minute before Shinji had Yutaka pinned under him on the couch. Shinji had Yutaka's arms pinned above his head with his left hand, while his right arm lie across Yutaka's chest. Their faces were close together, and their torsos were centimeters away from touching, with Shinji's knees pushed closely against the outsides of Yutaka's hips.

"I'm guessing you like this too, then?" Shinji asked with a grin. He knew that Yutaka saying he liked the affection was his shy way of saying that he liked him. Yutaka wasn't usually shy around him, but Shinji understood. This was uncharted territory and Yutaka would need them to establish the lines. Of course Shinji didn't see the need for lines.

Yutaka looked up at Shinji's grinning face and smiled back just as big. He'd been trying to get out of Shinji's grip, but he finally allowed his body to relax, along with his mind.

"It could be better," Yutaka said trying to sound indifferent even though he was smiling.

"Mmm, and how could I make it better?" Shinji questioned as he leaned closer to rub his nose against Yutaka's.

"I think you can figure it out," Yutaka said, his voice coming out breathily.

"Yeah, I think so too," Shinji said, his face so close to Yutaka's that the breath from his words ghosted over Yutaka's lips before his mouth did.

The kiss was soft, their lips brushing lightly. It didn't last very long before Shinji pulled away.

"Better?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

Yutaka didn't reply, but instead leaned up to kiss Shinji again.

The second kiss lasted longer and only ended for the time it took each boy to take a breath.

Shinji released Yutaka's arms as the kissing became deeper, moving one hand to hold the back of his head while the other moved to rub up his side.

Once his hands were released Yutaka moved them to wrap around Shinji's neck, pulling the taller boy closer and making the kiss rougher.

Shinji made a pleased noise at Yutaka's enthusiasm before he slid his tongue against Yutaka's lips, pleading for entrance. Yutaka quickly opened his mouth, giving way to Shinji's eager tongue.

Their tongues rubbed together frantically, with Shinji controlling the kiss. Shinji was obviously more experienced, and Yutaka was happy to follow his lead, although he was mostly acting on instinct.

Shinji's right hand moved to go under Yutaka's shirt as they kissed. Yutaka moaned into Shinji's mouth as he felt the hand rubbing up his rib cage. Shinji began to smirk as he pulled his tongue out of Yutaka's mouth.

Yutaka tried to pull Shinji's face back to his, but Shinji pulled away to nip at Yutaka's neck.

"Shinji!" Yutaka practically hissed as Shinji continued to nip at his neck.

Shinji simply smirked as he continued what he was doing, while moving his left hand to join his right under Yutaka's shirt.

Yutaka tried to suppress his moans as Shinji's hands felt up his body.

"Come on, 'Taka, scream for me," Shinji whispered as he moved his head to talk into Yutaka's ear.

Yutaka shivered at the feeling of Shinji's hot breath on his ear, which only served to encourage Shinji. Shinji laughed softly into Yutaka's ear as he moved his left hand farther up Yutaka's shirt to pinch one of his nipples.

Yutaka let out a whine as he arched his body at the feeling of Shinji's hand on his nipple.

"Mmm, that's right, just like that," Shinji whispered huskily into Yutaka's ear as he began to slide the shorter boy's shirt off with the hand that wasn't playing with his nipple.

"Fuck. _Fuck_ ," Yutaka panted as he moved his arms up to allow Shinji to take his shirt off.

Once his shirt was off, Yutaka moved his hands to pull at the bottom of Shinji's cutoff, wanting the other boy to be shirtless. Shinji had no issues with letting go of Yutaka's nipple in favor of letting the smaller boy pull his shirt off and throw it on the floor.

"You wanna see me naked?" Shinji asked with a shark like grin as he looked down at Yutaka. His hands were on either side of Yutaka's head, and he had his body pulled up so that Yutaka had a good view of his chest.

"Fuck, yeah," Yutaka replied as he ran his hands along Shinji's abs, causing the taller boy's stomach to tighten.

The tightening only continued as Yutaka leaned up to kiss Shinji's chest. Yutaka didn't know what he was doing, but the way he was dragging his tongue over Shinji's peck made the Third Man's stomach knot.

"Just when I thought you were shy," Shinji grunted out as he pushed Yutaka's body down so that Yutaka's lips could no longer reach his chest.

"Do you want me to pretend that I am? If you want I can act like it's someone else touching me," Yutaka suggested jokingly as he continued to rub his hands against Shinji's muscles. Yutaka was getting aroused.

Shinji quickly grabbed both of Yutaka's hands from his stomach and pinned them down over Yutaka's head as he leaned in to speak into Yutaka's ear.

"Don't even joke, Midget," Shinji whispered huskily before he licked the shell of Yutaka's ear, causing the smaller boy to curse as his body bucked up. "You're mine now. No one else can have you. I call dibs," Shinji announced before he pulled at Yutaka's ear with his teeth, causing the other boy to buck up into him again.

Shinji smirked as he realized Yutaka was hard.

"Y-You can't call dibs on me," Yutaka whined out as he tried to keep his body still.

"Think I just did," Shinji said happily as he felt his dick stiffen. He then moved his left leg in between Yutaka's legs and rubbed his thigh against Yutaka's cock. "I call dibs on this too."

Yutaka groaned at the contact as he once again bucked up toward Shinji.

Shinji lightly laughed as he moved one of his hands to hold Yutaka's hips in place as he worked his thigh against Yutaka's cock.

"S-Shit!" Yutaka screamed as he tried to wriggle out of Shinji's hold.

"Oh, yeah. This was worth calling dibs on," Shinji taunted as he continued what he was doing, only to be surprised when Yutaka raised his thigh up to rub against his own dick.

Shinji hissed at the unexpected contact before he looked down at a smiling, albeit strung out, Yutaka.

"Dibs," Yutaka said breathily.

Shinji couldn't help but break into a grin before he leaned in to kiss Yutaka, who met his mouth eagerly. Shinji let go of Yutaka's hands and they immediately wrapped around Shinji's neck and hair.

As their mouths collided, Shinji moved so that their groins were directly pressing together, an odd angle for Shinji with their height difference, causing both parties to moan into each other's mouth.

They began thrusting against each other, only breaking their mouths apart to breathe. Sweat pulled between them as their rhythm increased in speed until they were grinding frantically against each other.

Yutaka pulled at Shinji's hair as he finally came, unable to hold back his orgasm any longer. Shinji groaned at the hard tug and only managed to thrust a few more times before he came, riding it out against Yutaka's thigh.

Shinji was panting when he looked down at Yutaka, who was grinning lazily at him even as he struggled to get control of his breathing. Shinji couldn't help smiling down at him even as his arms shook from holding himself up. 

"Mind if we switch spots? I'd hate to crush you," Shinji asked while already starting to move.

"Y-Yeah. Sure," Yutaka agreed as he slowly lifted his body up so that Shinji could lie under him. He then rolled so that he was lying chest to chest with Shinji.

Shinji wrapped his arms around Yutaka as they lay in silence, trying to even their breath.

It had been a long time since Shinji had had any kind of physical relations with someone that hadn't ended with sex, but he found himself completely content having just dry humped his best friend like a virgin. And it'd been a really long time since a sexual experience had made him feel like that.

Shinji had begun rubbing circles on the small of Yutaka's back when the smaller boy spoke up.

"Hey, Shinji?" Yutaka asked.

"Yeah?"

"Feel free to text me anytime," Yutaka said with a yawn.

"Will do," Shinji replied with a grin.


	7. The Final Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue where everyone's happy because they deserve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Sorry it took so long to transfer. Hope it was worth the wait!

The next few weeks were great for Shinji and Yutaka. The transition from best friends to boyfriends was one they made easily, with little affect to their normal lives. They were happy together, and despite the laws in their country they were managing to be very relaxed about their relationship. They were keeping it a secret, although some may argue about how well they were keeping it.

People like Shuya, Hiroki, and Yoshitoki definitely would.

All five boys were at the arcade, but while Shinji and Yutaka were playing air hockey, the other boys were standing farther away in a corner by a racing game.

It was a slow day at the arcade and the only other people there were a group of elementary school girls playing a dancing game.

"Do you think they realize how obvious they are?" Nobu asked as he watched Shinji score a winning shot against Yutaka, who immediately demanded a rematch.

"Maybe it's just around us?" Hiroki guessed. They weren't quite as affectionate at school.

"I'm pretty sure they're betting sexual favors over the games," Shuya said as they continued to watch the other two boys. "I think I heard Shinji say something about Yutaka being on his knees for a few hours."

Hiroki's face turned red at the thought as he began tapping his nose, while Nobu laughed almost uncomfortably. Shuya didn't seem to think much of what he'd said. They stood in silence for a few seconds before Shuya spoke again.

"Do you think they're just gonna come out and tell us they're together, or do you think they just expect us to know?" Shuya asked.

"I don't think we're supposed to know at all," Hiroki said.

"I don't know; I feel like they'd hide it better if they didn't want us to know. Or at least Shinji would," Nobu said.

"Maybe he's blinded by love," Shuya suggested in an amused voice as he watched Yutaka take the winning shot that Shinji obviously allowed him to have.

"Would explain why he's letting him win," Yoshitoki said in the same amused voice.

"I never thought we'd see the day," Hiroki admitted with a look of surprise on his face.

"It's almost kind of cute," Shuya said as they watched Yutaka brag about winning to Shinji, who only laughed before he threw an arm around Yutaka's shoulder and playfully messed up his hair with his other hand. "I think them being together could be a good thing."

"Yeah, as long as no one in the government finds out," Nobu agreed.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure no one does then," Shuya said in a determined voice. "Right?"

"I guess so," Yoshitoki said with a light smile.

The two boys then looked toward Hiroki, who nodded in agreement. The three boys then shared a meaningful look before Shinji and Yutaka walked up to them.

"You guys done already?" Shinji asked with a raised brow.

"No, just taking a break," Shuya said with a smile.

"Why? You been losing, Shu?" Shinji asked in a teasing voice.

"No, but I see that you did. Too bad, Mim," Shuya teased knowingly.

"What can I say? He cheats," Shinji said with a shrug and a wink.

"I didn't have to cheat; I have skill," Yutaka said as he cracked his fingers, making the boys laugh.

Shinji then looked to Shuya and the boys stared at each other for an intense second while the rest of their group remained unaware. Shuya then shrugged at Shinji, signaling that he didn't care what was going on between Shinji and Yutaka.

"I wanna play Warrior of Death. Who's up for it?" Yutaka asked.

"I'll play," Shinji volunteered, pushing Yutaka toward the machine.

He then looked at a smiling Shuya and shrugged in response before he followed Yutaka to the machine. Shuya noticed that Shinji couldn't help the slight smile that appeared on his face as he followed Yutaka.

They didn't need to say more than that. It was understood.

* * *

Ikumi wasn't an idiot.

She was a smart girl, not just for her age, but in general. She'd always been a lot like her brother, precautious and clever.

That being the case, it was easy for her to deduce that something was going on with her brother and his best friend.

Shinji had been off for awhile. Ikumi figured other people didn't notice, but she knew her brother like the back of her hand, and she was positive that something was up.

It started around a month earlier. Shinji's mood had been in a funk.

One minute he seemed extra happy and the next he wouldn't leave the basketball hoop in their driveway. Ikumi knew the difference between Shinji practicing and Shinji using basketball as a distraction, and he had definitely been trying to distract himself.

Of course that phase ended the night he had left the house to go to Yutaka's while she had gone to her friend Minako's. Ikumi had known when he'd left that he was worried about something, but she'd decided to wait to talk to him about it.

Of course when he'd come home the next day he'd been in excellent mood and he'd had Yutaka in tow. She also noticed that Yutaka had been in an exceptional mood. The two boys had been smiling and laughing from the moment they'd come in the door, which wasn't really unusual for them, but something about them had been different.

Maybe it was their body language; they were a little too close. Maybe it was the way they'd hurried up the stairs to Shinji's room and stayed locked there for the rest of the night.

Ikumi couldn't say for sure. All she knew was that something had changed and that she'd like to be informed as to what it was.

Not that she didn't have a guess already. Really it would seem obvious to her if it didn't seem so innately crazy.

But crazy or not, she was about ninety percent sure that her brother was dating Yutaka.

She was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of apple juice when Shinji and Yutaka walked into the house. They'd been at the arcade with some of their friends for most of the day and were just getting back.

"We had a deal, Midget, and I won," Shinji said in an amused voice as they walked toward the kitchen.

"There's no way that I'm-" Yutaka started as they entered the kitchen, only to be interrupted by Shinji when he noticed Ikumi.

"Hey, sis," Shinji greeted. "Thought you were at Kiku's?"

"I was, but we finished our project early," she explained. "So what did you win?"

Yutaka's face turned red while Shinji smirked.

"I just bet Yutaka that I'd win more games at the arcade than him. And I did. By _six,_ " Shinji bragged, the number six apparently having a more significant meaning than what Ikumi knew.

"You totally cheated me!" Yutaka argued, still with a red face.

"It's not my fault that you can't lose without demanding a rematch," Shinji retorted with amused eyes. "But man, if you could, you might be as happy as I am right now."

Yutaka sighed as he looked at the floor, only causing Shinji to laugh.

"Did you get the mail today?" Ikumi asked seemingly out of nowhere.

"No," Shinji answered with a raised brow. "Are you expecting something?"

"Not really. I just wondered," Ikumi replied nonchalantly.

"Do you want me to go get it?" Shinji asked, not really sure why Ikumi cared. Usually they let their dad handle it unless they were expecting something.

"It doesn't really matter," Ikumi replied with a shrug before she got up to fill her glass. "Do either of you want any juice?"

"Sure." Yutaka nodded as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, pour me some while I go get the mail," Shinji said as he walked back toward the door, but not before he gently squeezed the back of Yutaka's neck.

Ikumi poured the juice while Shinji made his way to the door, but the second she heard the door shut she turned toward Yutaka.

"So-" Yutaka tried to start a conversation only to be interrupted by the younger Mimura.

"Are you having sex with my brother?" Ikumi asked point blank.

"I-What-How… Not, um-" Yutaka sputtered as he attempted to answer the question.

"I'm just going to take the fact that you didn't scream 'no' as confirmation," Ikumi told him with a light smile as she brought his and Shinji's glasses over to the table. "Here's your juice."

"We aren't having sex!" Yutaka yelled as Ikumi walked back to the counter to get her own glass and put the juice back in the fridge.

"Just heading that direction?" Ikumi asked with a light smile as she watched Yutaka become more frustrated.

Yutaka didn't have a chance to answer before Shinji walked back into the house with a small stack of mail.

"Nothing for you," Shinji told her as he threw the mail in the middle of the table. He then looked at Yutaka's blushing face before he looked back at Ikumi. "What happened?"

"I like him a lot more than your past girlfriends," Ikumi answered with a smirk before she took her juice and left the room.

Shinji then turned his eyes back to Yutaka.

"You know, we're shit at this whole secret keeping thing," Shinji told him before he picked up his glass and took a drink.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to tell her," Yutaka said sounding guilty.

"Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure the guys already know too," Shinji admitted before he put his glass in the sink.

"What?!" Yutaka exclaimed in surprise, his eyes going wide.

"Yep," Shinji told him before walking over to pull Yutaka out of his chair. "Now, put your glass in the sink so you can come give me my _prize,_ " Shinji whispered huskily in Yutaka's ear.

Yutaka glared at the taller boy, but to his credit he was quick to put his glass away before hurrying up the stairs to Shinji's bedroom.

* * *

A week later things weren't going as well for Yutaka.

"Yutaka, we warned you. You're grounded," Yutaka's mom told him as she held up his failed math test.

"Mom, it's the first one I've failed in, like, a month! I've been doing better," Yutaka argued before looking at his father, hoping for some back up.

Of course Yutaka's dad simply shook his head, signaling that he wasn't getting involved.

"You call this better? Yutaka, you have so much potential and until you start living up to it, you're grounded. Now give me your phone and go to your room," she demanded as she stuck her hand out in anticipation.

"Mom, come on, I'm supposed to see a movie with Shinji tonight!" Yutaka groaned.

"Well, now you aren't. Now give me your phone and go to your room," Yutaka's mom demanded.

Yutaka sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. The phone had no sooner left Yutaka's hand than it started to vibrate, the screen lighting up with a message from 'Sex Machine.'

Yutaka's eyes went wide as he watched his mother's face become horrified.

"Who is 'Sex Machine?'" Yutaka's mother asked, her voice going up an octave.

Yutaka's father then moved so he could see Yutaka's phone screen over his wife's shoulder.

"It's not what you think-" Yutaka tried to explain as his mother opened the text, much to his dismay.

"' _Hey babe, do you want me to come over so we can walk to the movie together? And your parents are cool with me staying tonight, right? Can't wait to see you baby ;)'_ " Yutaka's mom read aloud, sounding half hysterical.

"Is this from Shinji?" Yutaka's dad asked in a calm, but stern voice.

"Well, yeah, but-" Yutaka tried to explain, but he was once again cut off.

"What?!" Yutaka's mom screeched.

"Let me explain-" Yutaka tried again.

"Explain what? That you lied to us? That you really are in a relationship with him? That you two are- are- _Having sexual relations_!" Yutaka's mother hissed.

"We aren't having sex," Yutaka hissed, his face turning red. "And I didn't lie! You guys are the ones who put the idea in our heads!"

"Oh, so it's our fault that you're dating _Sex Machine_!" Yutaka's mother cried, getting more emotional by the moment.

"That name is just a joke," Yutaka explained, his face flushing red once again. "Shinji likes to take my phone and change his name in it. Last week he was Cuddle Buns; it doesn't mean anything!"

Yutaka's dad, Ryota, watched as his wife and son began to argue back and forth. Usually he tried not to get involved. Ryota was typically passive and was perfectly happy to let Asako handle things like this. Of course Ryota was aware that his wife sometimes allowed her emotions to override her good judgment. It was in those types of situations that he had to step in to maintain order.

"Alright, that's enough!" Ryota yelled over his wife and son.

Both Yutaka and Asako immediately became silent.

"Now, we are going to have another family meeting," Ryota announced as he took Yutaka's phone from Asako.

"Ryota-" Asako began to argue before her husband interrupted her.

"We agreed we would support him no matter what," Ryota reminded his wife. "Now I'm going to call Mimura so we can hurry this along."

"Dad, don't-" Yutaka tried to argue only to get silenced for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"Go wait at the kitchen table," Ryota told Yutaka. He then looked at his wife, silently asking her to go with her son.

Both Yutaka and Asako seemed to take his word as final as they walked into the kitchen.

As soon as they were gone Ryota used Yutaka's phone to call Shinji.

" _Hey, 'Taka,"_ Shinji answered, his tone sounding happy and light. _"Couldn't wait to talk to me?"_

"I think we've waited long enough to talk," Ryota replied.

"… _Mr. Seto?"_ Shinji asked, sounding more confused than worried.

"That's right," Ryota told him.

" _Oh, uh, how have you been?"_ Shinji asked, still not sounding worried.

"I've been fine. I can't say the same for my wife though. She's not pleased that Yutaka has been getting texts from Sex Machine," Mr. Seto said knowingly.

" _I can see why that would be bothersome. In my defense though, I almost went with 'Dreamboat.' I didn't last minute because I didn't think it was as original. Yutaka has been on me about that,"_ Shinji explained, his tone light and a little amused.

"Shinji, his mother is not happy," Ryota told him, ignoring his joking tone.

Shinji sighed over the phone before he responded.

" _Yeah, I know,"_ Shinji said sounding dejected. _"I know I'm not exactly the ideal boyfriend for Yutaka to have. Not that any guy is ideal, but you know what I mean. My reputation with the ladies isn't great, at least not from a parent's point of view."_

Ryota paid close attention to Shinji's tone, trying to judge the boys sincerity. He thought Mimura sounded like he was actually concerned about what Asako thought. For a guy like Shinji Mimura that seemed like a big step. Ryota kept that in mind before he answered.

"I like to think you wouldn't treat someone who's been your friend so long with so little respect," Mr. Seto said.

" _No way. I'm even trying to take things slow. Never done_ that _before, but I'm doing my best. I told him I'm following his lead, so that's been interesting,"_ Shinji told Ryota. _"But you probably don't want to hear about that."_ Shinji said, laughing a little.

"No, I know enough about how teenage boys work to never want to know," Ryota admitted. "But I think it'd be a good idea if you came over here so we can have a discussion about this. If you two are serious about each other we all need to be on the same page."

" _I'll be over in a few minutes,"_ Shinji replied easily.

"Oh, and one more thing Mimura," Ryota said.

" _What?"_ Shinji asked.

"If you want Asako's approval you could start by making sure Yutaka gets a decent math grade. What he's getting right now isn't going to cut it," Ryota said, not joking in the slightest.

" _Well, I'll do my best Mr. Seto, but no promises. Even at his pace he can't keep his hands off of me,"_ Shinji joked lewdly.

Ryota sighed before he replied, "Just get here."

Ryota shook his head as he ended the call. His son was dating a total pervert, and he was the one who put the idea in his head. And the worst thing?

He completely approved.


End file.
